


Western View, A

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s03e09 Bartlet for America
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-03-06
Updated: 2004-03-06
Packaged: 2019-05-31 03:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15110843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: "Hold your horses, I fell off the wagon."





	Western View, A

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**A Western View**   
**by:** Kasey

**Character(s):** Leo  
**Pairing(s):** None  
**Category(s):** Leo, Post Ep Bartlet in America   
**Rating:** YTEEN **Disclaimer:** I don't own 'em, surprise, surprise. Sorkin is God. Never been through it, writing it anyway. Deal with it.  
**Summary:** "Hold your horses, I fell off the wagon."  
**Spoiler:** Bartlet For America  
**Written:** 12/12/2001  


Y'know, it's amazin' how many western-themed expressions we have in this culture. All the things we say somehow relate back to the cowboys and Indians - not to mention our sports teams.

Get on the bandwagon.  
Circle the wagons.  
Hold your horses.  
Falling off the wagon.

Hold your horses, I fell off the wagon.

One mistake - one damn time, I... It's the ball game.

'Cause not only did I screw up and doesn't matter about relevance, it matters that now the White House Chief of Staff is, once more, dangerous, and a drunk, and should be out of a job.

But the fact that there were other doctors. Ones who were lied to. And the ONLY person who could've done the lying is one Dr. Abigail Bartlet. He wouldn't've been coherent enough at the time to tell them one way or another, so it was Abby. Abby who didn't tell them when they must've asked "Do you have any medical conditions?"

And while he was sick and Josh was trying to do damage control and decide what to do if he was too sick to go on...

While all that was going on, I was stumbling around on my drunken ass.

I've always been at least a little proud. Of managing to get through college and law school by working my ass off in every odd-job I could find. Of managing to help raise my two little sisters after Dad shot himself in the head. Of helping keep things together. Of getting guys elected when they didn't stand a shot. Of raising a wonderful daughter who turned out - thankfully - more like her mother than like me. Of getting the President of the United States elected so the country had what Josh calls "The Real Thing" in the lead.

And in between, there have been so many things to be ashamed of. Working too much. Neglecting Jenny. Killing 11 innocent civilians and countless non-innocent military troops. Being a drunk and a drug-addict for the better part of my life - well...it ended up being the worse part of my life. But for too many years. 

And after I finally managed to convince myself I needed help and I finally got myself help...and ya have to understand, neither one of those things was easy, and I was fairly proud of coming out the other side of it alive 'cause it's hell on earth and I could've just as easily ended up like my father, with my brains splattered across the back seat of my car...After I finally managed all that...

I screwed up so badly. Not only did I tell Gibson something I never shoulda told anyone who didn't need to know...

I fell off the wagon.

How's that for a Western expression?

Y'know, there are some diseases and mental disorders and things of that nature which are only found in certain cultures. Western cultures, mostly. Like Anorexia Nervosa or Bulemia...things you don't get where food is readily available or where things aren't regarded in the same way.

So people look at that and theorize it's all about vanity and about obsession with weight and food intake. And to some extent that's true, I suppose. Or I would guess - I wouldn't know entirely, I've never had either of those disorders, and I could tell ya as well as anyone else that someone who hasn't been through a disorder can't understand it nearly so well as someone who has.

It's not vanity. It's a disorder. A disease.

Just like alcoholism isn't about a lack of willpower. 


End file.
